167 posts from December 2012

December 31, 2012

With 2012 coming to a close, PolitiFact Florida editors decided to look back at
your favorite fact-checks of a busy political year. We fact-checked an ad by Democrat U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson who said of his Republican opponent U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV : "A promoter for Hooters with a history of bar room
brawling, altercations and road rage." And we dove into Republican U.S. Rep. Allen West's claim that "I believe there's about 78 to 81 members of the Democrat Party who are members
of the Communist Party"

In no particular
order, here are a selection of the most read PolitiFact Florida fact-checks of
2012.

December 28, 2012

"It’s sad that a family can be torn apart by something as simple as a pack of wild dogs," Saturday Night Live's Jack Handy once said in a "Deep Thoughts" sketch.

We don't have many of those in Miami, but we do have guns. Lots of guns. Especially on New Year's Eve. So here's the City of Miami's press conference headline: "ONE BULLET KILLS THE PARTY!" The press release:

In a united effort, concerned elected officials, law enforcement and community activists are urging residents and visitors never to fire celebratory gunshots in the air. Every year innocent people, including children, are struck by bullets fired into the air by people celebrating various holidays causing serious injury, and oftentimes death.

Ron Dermer, a conservative Florida-born Republican and brother of Miami Beach's former mayor David Dermer, is slated to be Israel's next ambassador to the United States, according to Israeli news reports.

Dermer was nicknamed "Bibi's Brain" in a 2011 Tablet profile that compared his relationship with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to that of Karl Rove and former President George W. Bush:

Dermer’s title is senior adviser to the prime
minister, and he’s a jack-of-all-trades—strategist, pollster, and
speechwriter for Netanyahu, as well as his chief proxy in foreign
affairs. A constant presence in Netanyahu’s meetings in Washington, he
has helped shape Israel’s posture in the American capital most notably
through Netanyahu’s spring speech to the U.S. Congress, which foiled
President Barack Obama’s effort to pressure the prime minister into
meaningful negotiations with the Palestinians. “Bibi doesn’t move an
inch without talking to him,” said one person who has been in meetings
with both men.

At 40, Dermer has a full head of dark hair under his small knit
kippah and the hyperkinetic energy of a man who is still young. A
Wharton-schooled economist and Oxford-trained political theorist with
Machiavellian political instincts, Dermer comes across as equal parts
George Stephanopoulos and Karl Rove. He is a ferocious competitor who
quarterbacked Israel’s flag-football team in the sport’s World Cup
three times. “He cannot abide anybody being better at him than
anything, particularly physically,” said his friend Tom Rose, a former
publisher of the Jerusalem Post. “He wouldn’t let a 3-year-old beat him at Ping-Pong.”

While Ron Dermer cut his political teeth as a Newt Gingrich-era Republican Revolution conservative, brother David was a bit more liberal. Though a Democrat, however, Mayor David Dermer backed Republican Gov. Jeb Bush in his successful 2002 re-election bid.

For a decade, David Rivera was a political force to be reckoned with, the consummate operative who had a cat-like ability to survive any scrape — even as investigations swirled around him.

This November, the congressman’s ninth life expired.

Voted out of office as the FBI and IRS pressed on with probes into his personal and campaign finances, Rivera officially becomes a private citizen Thursday. Rivera could be charged soon, sources familiar with the investigation say.

Despite the ongoing investigations, Rivera has steadfastly denied he’s under any scrutiny and is already planning a comeback.

Rivera lived and breathed politics since and before his one term in Congress and four in the state Legislature. He was involved in every type of race: obscure party posts, local commission elections, contests for Florida House speaker, presidential races in the state and the winning campaigns of his close friend, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio.

But Rivera’s penchant for playing the political game proved to be his downfall as well. Rivera often embroiled himself in needless schemes and some ultimately backfired, say friends, foes and former peers.

“At the end of the day, David’s cleverness was a liability. But until now, it was an asset,” said J.C. Planas, a fellow Miami Republican who served and clashed at times with Rivera from 2002-2010 in the Florida House.

Those who were even closer to Rivera, including Rubio backers, have anonymously described his schemes as bordering on “pathological” and “Nixonian.”

When asked about the comparison to former President Nixon, Rivera said by email “Don’t even know what that means.” He then added a “hee hee” laughter message that went on to reference a famous Nixon 1962 press conference after he lost a California governor’s race.

“But I do know this, you won’t have David Rivera to kick around anymore,” Rivera said.

It’s a vintage Rivera response: funny, edgy and laden with political depth. It also shines a light on Rivera's mercurial nature, which has long concerned some Rubio backers. They’re relieved that Rivera’s political career could be over because it lowers the chances that Rubio — a vice-presidential shortlister in 2012 who won’t rule out a future White House bid — would get caught in the crossfire of a future controversy.

The two still own a Tallahassee home, which a bank started to foreclose in 2010 just as Rubio was running for Senate.

Rivera declined to comment for this article. In the past, he would simply laugh when told he was too crafty for his own good.

While in office, Rivera filed false financial reports by listing a phony company that paid him phantom income, records show. He took a gambling-company payout in secret when he didn’t need to. And former campaign vendors say he was involved in a bizarre election scheme involving stacks of untraceable cash to help attack Democrat Joe Garcia, who ultimately beat him Nov. 6.

The FBI is investigating the latter two cases. The state ethics commission rapped him for 11 instances of non-disclosure in October. And he avoided a 52-count state criminal indictment for his use of campaign and public money when he was a state legislator.

Throughout, Rivera’s explanations often changed when it came to specifics. But his general response was the same: Denial of wrongdoing.

Gov. Rick Scott’s
drug-testing push has racked up even more legal bills, with a federal judge
ordering the state to pay $190,000 in attorney’s fees for a case involving
state workers.

The ruling, posted Friday, orders Scott—and by extension,
taxpayers—to cover the legal fees of the lawyers that took on the governor’s
controversial plan to require random drug testing for state workers.

The $190,000 legal tab is in addition to hundreds of
thousands of dollars in fees and costs spent in attempts to defend controversial
laws passed by Scott. They include drug testing for welfare recipients, a 3-percent
employee contributions for state workers’ pensions, voting law changes and a 2011 law banning doctors from asking patients about guns. In most cases, judges have
ruled the laws to be unconstitutional, sparking appeals from Scott and higher
legal fees.

Scott ordered the state-worker drug testing plan shortly
after taking office in 2011, potentially subjecting the state’s 85,000
employees to random drug tests. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees sued and
U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro ruled in April that the testing plan
constituted an unconstitutional search and seizure. Scott immediately vowed to
appeal.

"I respectfully disagree with the court’s ruling and will pursue the case on appeal,” Scott said in a statement that mirrors several others he has made this year.

But while the appeal plays out, taxpayers remain liable for
paying the attorney’s fees of the plaintiffs. Those fees ran as high as
$312,000—with lawyers billing up to $600 per hours—before a judge ruled that
$190,000 was more appropriate.

If those fees are added to the $888,000 legal bills cited in this July
article in the Orlando Sentinel,
then controversial laws passed by the Legislature and Scott have easily cost
taxpayers more than $1 million in the last two years.

Several cases are
currently being litigated or appealed, so the legal meter continues to run each
day.

As PolitiFact finishes our Obameter updates on President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign promises, we wanted to highlight our observations and reflections on Obama's vision of government, the individual promises and the journalistic challenge of diving into the bureaucracy to determine whether the pledge has been fulfilled.

“We are together on this call today for one reason – we must
help the Florida families whose jobs and
livelihoods depend on our Florida
ports,” Scott said. “A shut down of Florida
ports is simply not an option for Florida
families.”

Scott wrote a letter to Obama last week asking for the
president to invoke presidential powers to halt a strike by the International
Longshoremen’s Association. He said he “hoped” the president had read the
letter, indicating that Obama had not yet responded.

A top Democrat in the Florida Legislature was quick to react
to Scott’s mention of “families,” pivoting to other state issues that affect
families—namely, healthcare and education.

House Minority Leader Perry
Thurston, D-Plantation, blasted the governor’s move to intervene in the
labor dispute while other state issues linger.

“President Obama will determine what is best regarding the
looming strike at the nation’s East Coast ports,” said Thurston, in a statement
that asked Scott to focus on implementing healthcare reform and addressing
education issues. “Governor Scott can turn his attention to Florida and begin correcting all that he has
managed to dismantle.”

Scott’s press release and the response release from Thurston
are below:

Joe Garcia, who will be sworn in to Congress on Jan. 3, has hired some familiar faces to work in his D.C. and district offices.

Jeffrey Garcia (no relation) will make the jump to chief of staff after working as Garcia's campaign manager in 2012 and 2010. Giancarlo Sopo, who handled Garcia's communications in 2010, will be director of communication. And Raul Martinez Jr., the son of former Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez, will be Garcia's district director. (Jeffrey Garcia ran the elder Garcia's unsuccessful congressional campaign in 2008. The younger Martinez worked on President Barack Obama's campaign this year.)

Garcia, who will represent the Kendall-to-Key West 26th District, plans to move into outgoing U.S. Rep. David Rivera's West Miami-Dade district office, and to have satellite offices at City Hall in Florida City and in Key West, Jeffrey Garcia said.

In Washington, Garcia will serve in the House Judiciary Committee.

"As a member of the Judiciary Committee, I look forward to working with my colleagues in a bipartisan manner towards securing passage of comprehensive immigration reform that will boost our economy and impact thousands of families in South Florida," he said in a statement. "I am eager to work on defending the security and civil liberties of our citizens; protecting American trade from unfair practices and upholding the Constitution of the United States."